We’ve seen automotive tuner Bisimoto partner up with Hyundai for a series of impressive, high-performance custom projects in recent years, and with the annual SEMA show just around the corner they’re pairing up this time. But this time around, the focus is on fuel efficiency.

California-based Bisimoto has taken Hyundai’s already high-mileage Ioniq hybrid to create the HyperEconiq, in the process upping its numbers substantially, a series of 83 tests yielding an average of 83 miles per gallon. That compares impressively with the 58 mpg Combined rating achieved by the stock Hyundai Ioniq.

Tech Talk!

Bisimoto suggests it was able to get there by using what it describes as “the best hypermiling, economy and friction tech.” A quick glimpse reveals a handful of modifications its made, including the use of wheel spats to reduce drag around the rear wheels, but there are also a number of upgrades hidden under the stock Hyundai Ioniq’s skin. (more…)

Once again partnering with aftermarket tuner house Bisimoto Engineering, the Korean carmaker plans to bring a customized version of the 2015 Sonata sedan to the upcoming SEMA Show in Las Vegas. And the concept vehicle reportedly will make a hefty 708-horsepower, a small but significant one more than the Dodge muscle car.

Power to the People!

And where the Detroit maker relies on a supercharged version of its 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 to create what it is billing as the most powerful factory-built muscle car ever, Hyundai and Bisimoto turned to a downsized four as their starting point.

If there's something you can do with a vehicle, you'll likely find the parts and accessories at SEMA.

Whether you were looking for a high-performance crate engine, off-road tires or something as goofy as “eyelashes” to attach to attach to your car’s headlights, there was seemingly something for everyone wandering through the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center during the course of the last week.

It was all part of what has come to be known as the SEMA Show, the annual gathering of the Specialty Equipment Marketers Association. The largest trade group for automotive aftermarket suppliers says it’s on track to report close to $32 billion in sales this year, reflected by the record turnout of more than 2,500 vendors and many as 150,000 visitors to this year’s event.

Your Trusted Source!

“Anything you can put on a car or fix a car with, they have it at the SEMA Show,” gaped Chris Perry, the general manager of Chevrolet.

The largest of the General Motors divisions staked out a major presence of its own at SEMA, with dozens of production models and concept vehicles – ranging from a high-performance version of the Spark EV to two special edition Corvettes – on display.

Hyundai offers a rendering of the Ark Legato Concept coming to SEMA next month.

Hyundai is giving us a look at yet another one of the many concept vehicles it plans to unveil at the upcoming SEMA show in Las Vegas early next month, this one coming from an ongoing partnership between the Korean carmaker and tuner ARK.

Dubbed the Legato Concept – which translates as “tied together” in Italian musical lingo – the show car brings together a variety of sexy body parts while also adding pieces designed to improve the handling and performance of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

Your SEMA Source!

The prototype combines “exotic design, tuned performance and luxury ambiance,” with “the integrity of the original design” of the Genesis Coupe, according to a Hyundai release accompanying these images.

Among the elements ARK has worked into the concept are unique front and rear bumpers, side skirts, deck lid and wide-body cues.

For those who’re sad to see the leaves begin to turn colors and the day get shorter there is a reason to feel excited about the arrival of autumn: the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas. And if Hyundai’s teaser release is any indication, this could be a good year at the annual aftermarket extravaganza.

Consider, if you will, the idea of stuffing a 1,000-pony powertrain package under the hood of a Hyundai Genesis Coupe. That’s one of the big announcements the Korean carmaker has in store for the upcoming Specialty Equipment Marketers Association event at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Your SEMA News Source!

The result of a partnership with Bisimoto Engineering, the package starts out with a factory-stock 3.8-liter V-6 from the Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec edition. Of course, there’s a lot more going on, including twin turbochargers, to transform this into what Hyundai calls “a no-holds-barred racer.”

What happens when you pump 400 hp out of a Hyundai Veloster? You get the Velocity Concept.

If there were any significant complaints when the quirky little Hyundai Veloster first hit the road it was a lack of performance – a polite way of saying the original version was slightly slower than a snail. Hyundai clearly signaled its intent to resolve that problem with a sportier turbo concept it debuted at the annual SEMA aftermarket show last autumn.

For those who think the turbo version still leaves a little lacking, perhaps they might want to check out Hyundai’s newest Veloster-based show car which will make its appearance at the 2012 Specialty Equipment Marketers Assoc. gathering at the Las Vegas Convention Center later this month.

Poseur no more, the Hyundai Velocity Concept is designed to deliver everything possible from the edgy little hatchback – and to let us wonder just whether some of the tricks we’re seeing might eventually land in the showroom.

Your News Source!

The project is a joint venture teaming the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California – known as HATCI – and the race wizards at Cosworth who provided significant engine upgrades including modified pistons, rods, fuel management and a high-boost, intercooled turbo. That’s enough to deliver a full 400 horsepower – just a whisker short of twice the stock Veloster Turbo’s 201 hp — and 350 pound-feet of torque from the compact 1.6-liter direct-injected inline-four.

The Ark Performance Veloster, a concept version of the new turbo-hatchback Hyundai will unveil at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show.

Horsepower, it seems, is quickly becoming as much a push at Hyundai as fuel-economy.

The maker unleashed a half-dozen high-performance concept vehicles at this year’s big aftermarket event in Las Vegas, the annual SEMA Show, and at least two of them will influence future production products, including both a turbocharged Veloster and a possible V-8-powered version of the Genesis Coupe.

During a SEMA preview, Hyundai of America CEO John Krafcik confirmed plans to add the turbo to the well-reviewed, if somewhat anemic Veloster, revealing that it will make its debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January and hit showrooms soon afterwards.

SEMA Show Spectacular!

The production model will be influenced by the bold ARK Performance Veloster, a customized SEMA one-off that uses a twin-scroll turbo to squeeze 210 hp out of the hatchback. Though Krafcik cautioned that the final numbers for the production Veloster Turbo haven’t been finalized, it should see somewhere in the range of a 50% bump over the 138-hp naturally aspirated version.

Hyundai will reveal a 480-hp concept version of its Genesis Coupe at the upcoming SEMA Show.

Auto shows often provide designers and engineers an opportunity to play the game of “what if?” and nowhere more so than at the SEMA Show, the annual gathering of aftermarket suppliers that also brings out some of the wilder concepts and show car ideas from automakers like Hyundai.

And, when the show opens up in Las Vegas just in time for Halloween, the Korean carmaker will have a trick up its sleeve that will provide fans of its Genesis Coupe a real treat: the Hyundai Genesis Hurricane SC.

Your Performance Source!

The result of a two-year development effort, it’s a 480-horsepower version of the sporty Genesis Coupe, with a supercharger strapped onto its 3.8-liter V-6 to bump up its stock 306 hp by nearly 60%.

The project was hatched by HATCI, the Hyundai America Technical Center Inc., which teamed up with Magnuson Products, Rhys Millen Racing, Harman International and Torvec Inc. to develop and build the prototype.

As regular readers of TheDetroitBureau.com know, we recently gave a generally positive review to the new Hyundai Veloster, an affordable and distinctively styled coupe that replaces such past throw-away offerings as the Tiburon. If one thing was missing, we noted, it was a bit more muscle.

Well, if the Hyundai ARK Performance Veloster is any indication, perhaps the Korean carmaker has been listening. The prototype, unveiled in these renderings prior to its official launch at the 2011 SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas, puts the new 3-door on steroids.

Your Winning News Source!

The one-off pumps up the basic 1.6-liter inline-four engine from a mere 138 horsepower to 210 with the addition of a twin-scroll supercharger. Other changes ensure that anyone in your path is likely to get out of the way. The real question is not whether the ARK-tuned Veloster is fast but how fast we might see Hyundai actually put some of its technology into production – rumors persisting despite some denials by the Korean maker that a turbo version of the new Veloster is on its way.